Time to meet the community

By Todd Von Kampen, The North Platte Telegraph
Original article HERE

Time to meet the communityNo, nothing was wrong when all those police officers showed up at McDonald’s Saturday morning. They just wanted to meet folks.

The fast-food restaurant at South Dewey and Francis streets was bustling as North Platte Police Chief Daniel Hudson, his department’s chief spokeswoman and three of his top commanders chatted with visitors during their first “Coffee With a Cop” session.

Despite the event’s 7 a.m. start and the unexpectedly snowy conditions from Friday’s storm, about a dozen people showed up in the first hour to get better acquainted with and ask questions of the first-year North Platte chief and his staff.

“Maybe we’ll do it later the next time,” said Hudson, adding that he hopes to hold similar meet-and-greets around the city every three months. “We’re really appreciative that McDonald’s reached out and is hosting us.”

Joining Hudson Saturday morning were Deputy Chief Jim Agler, Lts. Rich Hoaglund and Steve Reeves and Officer Beth Kerr, the department’s public information officer.

Hoaglund, a 42-year department veteran, commands the uniformed patrol division while Reeves, a former broadcast voice of Lincoln County Crime Stoppers, supervises the support services division. Lt. Rich Thompson, who wasn’t present Saturday, oversees the criminal investigation division.

Though they all wore police uniforms Saturday morning, Hudson said, it’s good for the community and his officers to see each other in ordinary settings outside duty hours.

“It’s hard to approach police officers when they’re in their car and have their business face on,” he said. When law enforcement officials finish their shifts, “we’re just people with the same things going on.”

Some people who showed up to chat offered training opportunities for officers about various community services, Hudson said. They included Jennifer Rosenberg of North Platte, whose Mamas Helping Mamas group serves mothers struggling with substance abuse.

If police know what her program wants to do, “we can get some more moms in recovery and added protection for mothers,” Rosenberg said after talking with Hoaglund and Agler.

Other visitors came to seek advice about dealing with drug abuse situations or problems with their children, said Hoaglund, whose brother, Sgt. Jeff Hoaglund, is another veteran of the North Platte force.

“We were surprised by a lot of people who actually came in because they had an opportunity to sit down confidentially and talk,” he said.

Officers will join their Fire Department counterparts in meeting the public at a May 19 First Responders picnic at Cody Park, Kerr said.

“We’ll get around and do this sort of thing at Nebraskaland Days and things like that,” she added.